Plus 14 oz. of produce, all per day, and fish four times a week. Cuts
heart disease, extends your life.

The Polymeal diet. See
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=7123048

and

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=340254

Seems that eating these items every day reduces heart disease risk by
some huge percentage, and will increase the life expectancy of a 50
year old American by some 5 years. Male or female!

Summary:

1) Eat fish four times a week;
2) Drink 4-5 oz. of wine a day;
3) Eat 100g (3-4 oz.) of dark chocolate a day;
4) Eat 400g (14 oz.) of fruits and vegetables a day;
5) Eat 2.7g (a pinch) of garlic a day;
6) Eat 68g (2-3 oz.) of almonds a day.

I went out and bought chocolate today, and have made up Christmas bags
for a family dinner tomorrow, with a bottle of red wine, a head of
garlic, a giant dark chocolate bar, a tin of sardines, and an orange,
plus the info on the diet, tucked into each bag.

A chef in the Guardian (UK) suggests a menu: "watercress soup, grilled
fillet of mackerel with a tagine of winter root vegetables, chickpeas,
toasted almonds and roasted garlic, followed by chocolate mousse"

I have a lovely flourless chocolate cake recipe with almonds, and I'd
serve a bouillabaisse, with rouille (garlic mayonaisse) and a salad,
for a hypothetical Polymeal menu. Wine with the fish of course, maybe
Bonny Doon's Cigar Volant pinot grigio?

Excuse me while I make sure I've eaten enough chocolate today. Maybe I
didn't have enough red wine at dinner, either...

PS chocolate has anti-oxidants, too, don't you know.

Meanwhile, the breast cancer book I have says that drinking 6-9 glasses
of wine per week increases your risk of breast cancer. So the book
concludes - only drink wine once a year, for New Year's. How do they
figure this? Before I got breast cancer, I averaged about a glass of
wine a month maybe. My surgeons, top docs at top research hospital
breast center, agree that if I like red wine I should drink it. Post-op
I drank nothing for 6 or 8 weeks, since I was taking all those
painkillers. Now in chemo I certainly don't feel like drinking for a
good ten days after infusion, leaving another 10 days in which I can.
So now what? Wine or no wine? I am opting for a little. Moderation is
the key in all things. I am not sure I will go for a glass a day,
however. That puts me in the supposed range for risk.

Leila